CB, I don't think you were prejudiced [if that's the right word].
Some cultures are based on the idea that property is in limited supply, life is a zero-sum game and the necessity is to take things away from other people or trick them out of them. To dominate, confiscate, steal, lie, deceive, kill. That culture is the age-old human culture going back to our chimpoid beginnings where it was absolutely true.
In modern cultures, life is a matter of co-operation, synergy, specialization, trade, free will, symbiosis and there is no limit to property despite the fact that it is obvious that there are only so many tonnes of oil, gold, water, salt etc on earth.
There is an enormous overlap - the cultures do not live in different countries. They occur to a greater or lesser extent in all countries and all individuals. But some individuals are strongly oriented to taking, dominance etc. Others are strongly oriented to libertarianism.
The line between good and evil is the line which runs right through the heart of each person! [Approximate quote of Ghandi]
Then, overlay that with identity - we and them. Where is the division between we and them?
No wonder there's a lot of mayhem going on.
Saddam is firmly in the chimpoid culture. He's not retrainable, so he has to go. The clash of civilizations which we have been embarked on for centuries [millennia actually - it's not something new, as some would have us believe] is between the zero-sum dominance hierarchy of lies, fraud, confiscation, theft, murder and mayhem and the caring, sharing, peace, light, harmony, happiness, prosperity and longevity world of co-operation, synergy, creativity, intelligence, symbiosis and love.
Mqurice |
